Pneumatically-operated ignition device for gas-engines.



G. G. HESS.

- PNEUMATIGALLY OPERATED IGNITION DEVICE FOR GAS ENGINES. APPLICATIONFILED APE. 22.1908.

929,429? :Patented Ju1y27, 1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

G. G. HESS.

PNEUMATIGALLY OPERATED IGNITION DEVICE FOR GAS ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 22.1908.

Patented July 27, 1909.

' a SHEETS-SHEET a.

Elv'wen oz C/mrls ijfes.

I dawn,

c. e. HESS. I PNEUMATIGALLY OPERATED IGNITION DEVICE FOB. GAS ENGINES.

" APPLICATION FILED APR. 22.1908.

929,429. Patented July 27, 1909. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

' luvntov &

22 Ufiarias G. 95.5.

iii as CHARLES G. HESS, OF CENTER, COLORADO.

PNEUMATICALLY-OPERATED IGNITION DEVICE FOR GAS-ENGIIiES.

naeaonee.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 27, 1909.-

Application filed April 22, 1908. Serial No. 423,532.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known thatfI, CHA LES G. lines, a citizen of the. United States,residingat Center, in the county of Saguache and State of Colorado, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Pneumatically-Operated vIgnitionDevices for Gas-Engines, of which the following is a specification.

sive to manufacture, readily installed either on new engines or enginesalready in use without changing the design, and which is thoroughlyreliableand efiicient in use.

A further object ofthe invention is the provision of a make and breaksparking device composed of comparatively few parts, so that liabilityto derangement and disorder is reduced to a minimum, the device being sodesigned that the time of ignition can be eflidiently advanced orretarded with as much ease as the most approved jump spark ignitionsystem Without, however, being sub ject to the many objections common insuch systems.

cylinder engine equipped with the improved. ignitionsystem. Fig. 2 is aside view thereof with the crank shaft in section. Fig. 3 is a frontview of the pump or compressor andthe timing device for varying the timeof ignition.

longitudinally of the pump. Fig. 5 is a side view of a modified form ofspark plug. Fig.

Fig. 4 is a sectional View taken 6 is a top plan view thereof. Fig. 7 isa bottom plan view'of the plug. Figs. 8 and 9 are side elevations ofmodified forms of pumps or compressors adapted, respectively, for twoand four cylinder engines. Fig. 10 is a central longitudinal section ofthe spark plug. Fig. 11 is a detail sectional view of the fluid-actuatedmotor for operating the movable electrode of a spark plug.

Similar reference characters areemployed to designate correspondingparts throughout the several views.

1 Referring to the drawing, and more par ticularly to Figs. 1 and 2, 1designates the cylinder of an ordinary explosive engine; 2, the crankcasing; 3, the crankshaft; 4, the fly Wheel; and 5, the spark plug. Inthe present instance, the engine is of the two stroke cycle type, and onthe crank shaft is a cam 9 for operating the pump or compressor A thatsubjects the motor 13 to the action of air under pressureso as tooperate the movable electrode.

The pump or compressor comprises, in the present. instance, a cylinder6, as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4, in which is slidably fitted aplunger 7 .thathas at its outer end a roller 8 running over a cam 9 onthe crank shaft 3, 'the piston being constantly urged outwardly by aspring "10 preferably disposed within the piston and serving to hold theroller 8 in constant contact with the cam. The cylinder .6 is mounted ona bracket 11 secured to a suitable part of the engine. 011 the head ofthe cylinder is a nipple 12 to which is connected a flexible tube 13 ofsome appropriate material to be unaffected by oil which might be thrownoff from the engine, the said tube being connected at its outer end withthe motor B. The motor, in the present instance, consists of a cylinder14, Figs. 1 and 11, in which is slidably. mounted a plunger 15 thatmoves in and outof the cylinder 6 open at one end. The opposite end hasa head 16 provided with a nipple 17 to which the hose or flexible tube13 is attached. The plunger 15 of the motor is connected with the moveable .element of the spark plug. 1 p

The sparkplug 5 may be of any suitable construction consistingpreferably of a metallic shell 18, Figs. 5 to '7, that has a threadedportion 19 for screwing into the usual tapped openingof the enginecylinder intended to receive the spark plug, the plug having anon-circular portion 20 to receive a wrench for facilitating the placingor removal of the 'plu Passing through the shell 18 is a mova leelectrode 21 that has its lower end formed into an arm 22 that isadapted to contact with the fixed electrode through the latter on theengine cylinder.

The movable electrode is insulated from the Shell of the spark plug by abushing 24 of mica or other suitable material, the electrode being ofsuch length as to project out of the bushing at the top of the plug. Onthe outer end of the movable electrode is attached an adjustable arm25to which the plunger of the motor B is connected, sothat the movement ofthe plunger will bring the electrodes into contact. 1 The spark plugserves as a support for the motor Band the latter is attached to theshell by means of a bracket piece 26, as shown in Fi 5, the motor being,of course, insulated om the shell of the spark plug. One side of theprimary circuit isconnected with=the movable electrode in any suitablemanner, as for in-' stance, by a nut 27, Fig. 5, and the other side ofthe circuit will be grounded on the engine, as will be understood. InFigs. 1

and 2, the motor ,is secured by a bracket piece 28 to the movableelectrode of the spark plug, the bracket iece being clamped against theupper end 0 the bushing 24 by anut 29.

. electrode.

In operation, the rotation of the crank shaft causes the cam 9 toreciprocate the plunger of the air compressor, and when the plungermoves inwardly, the air contained in the cylinders 6 and 14 in theconnecting tube 13 is compressed and thus forces the plunger 15.0f themotor B outwardly, thus dropping the movable electrode so as to makecont-act with the fixed As soon as the cam passes its central point, theplunger 7 is moved outwardly by thev spring, 10, thereby relievingpressure of air acting on the motor so that the electrodes can separate,this separation being effected by a spring 30. This separation ofelectrodes produces a large spark of time that the engine piston reachesits inner dead center. For-this purpose, the bracket great intensity, sothat the ignition of the compressed charge within the engine cylinderwill be exploded.

In order to vary the time of ignition, it is merely necessary to adjustthe position of the pump or compressor A with respect to the cam '9, sothat the air will be com ressed ata point suitably in advance or behindthe In the bracket A is a slot 11 into bracket 31 being adj ustablymounted on the crank shaft 3 and supporting oppositelydisposed pumps 01;compressors A, the plungers of which are operated by a single cam 9. Itis obvious, however, that/the ignition device is adapted equally well toa four cycle engine, it being necessary to mount the pump so as to beoperated by a-cam on the secondary shaft. On the bracket 31 is an arm'32 to which may be connected a controlling mechanism operated from thedrivers seat, as when the engine is used in automobiles or otherservice. In Fig. 9, the bracket 33 is designed for holding four pumpcylinders A, and the flexible tubes 34 connected with the motors of thespark plugs are attached to a yoke 35 so as to keep them in properrelative position. It is obvious that any desired number of pumps may beused, according to the number of cylinders of the engine, and a bracketfor supporting the pump or pumps can be readily designed so as to applyto the crank or secondary lshaft of any engine, while the spark plugscan be substituted for the ordinary spark plugs now in use, thusrendering the ignition apparatus a ready substitute for other ignitionsystemswithout requiring any alterations in the en ine.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, the advantages of the construction and of themethod of operation will be readil apparent to those skilled in the artto which the invention appertains, and while I have describedtheprinciple of operation of theinvcntion, together with the apparatuswhich I now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, I desire to haveit understood that the apparatus shown is merely illustrative, and-thatsuch changes maybe made when desired as are within the scope of theclaims.

Having thus decribed the invention, what I claim is 1. In an ignitionapparatus, the combination of a make and break plug, a pneumaticallyactuated motor for operating the movable electrode of the plug, a pumpincluding a piston, a shaft, a bracket mounted in cooperative relationwith the shaft to be adjusted-around the axis of the same, a connectionbetween the motor and pump, a cam on the shaft, a device connected withthe piston and arranged to ride on the cam, and

means guided,by the bracket for holding said device in cooperativerelation with the cam. I

2. The combination of an engine including a. shaft, a cam on the shaft,a bracket on the shaft adjustablearound the axlethereof, awpump mountedon the bracket andinclud: ing a plunger, a roller on the plunger ridingon the cam, a member on the plungerengaging the bracket for maintainingthe roller in the same plane as the cam, a spark plug for the en ine,and connecting means between the plunger of the pump and the mov- Yablememberot' the spark plug for operating the latter by the pump.

3. In an engine, the combination of a fluid compressing device, with aspark plug operated thereby, said plug including a movable electrode, anarm secured *tothe electrode, a cylinder mounted on the spark plug, aplunger mounted therein for movement in a plane at right angles to theelectrode, a

connection between the plunger and said arm, and. a spring operating onthe electrode to hold the same in open circuit position and formaintaining the plunger within the cyl- 1-5 inder.

In testimony w-hereofI affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' CHARLES G. HESS. Witnesses:

I CASE L. EWBANK, THOMAS BosEBRoUGH.

